Aircraft.



A. G. BARTON.

AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-27. 1914.

Patented June 13, 1916.

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A. G. BARTON.

AIRCRAFT.

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1,186,875. Patented June 13, 1916.

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AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.27, 1914.

1 1 86,875 Patented June 13, 1916.

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'the frames are relation to each ALBEitT e. BARTON, or GALENA, KANSAS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1916.

, Application filed January 27, 1914. Serial No. 814,766.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that .I, ALBERT G. BARTON acitizen of the United States, residing at Galena, in the county ofCherokee and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Aircraft, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aerial craft, the object of the inventionbeing to provide a special construction of body or fuselage, combinedwith a novel arrangement of propeller and steering mechanism, thesteering being efi'ected exclusively with the use of propellers and"without the aid of the usual steering planes such as horizontal andvertical rudders and lateral balancing ailerons.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will hereinafterbe more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsection through the body or fuselage of this invention, illustrating thepropeller and steering mecha- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upperportion of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is arear elevation of the body. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of theforward stem or bow frame. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the completemachine showing the sheathing of the body or fuselage. Fig. 7 is adetail elevation of the propeller mechanism including the power plant.Fig. 8 is a similar view of the steermechanism. The structure of thebody or fuselage of the machine comprises a number of up rights 1arranged at opposite sides of the machine and in pairs and connected atthe top'and bottom by top cross bars 2 and bottom cross bars 3respectively. As the frame approaches the forward end or how, therectangular frames formed by the bars 1, 2. and 3 gradually diminish insize and all of connected together in rigid other by top rails 1 andbottom rails 5 thus imparting a pointed shape to the structure as awhole so that when sheathed in with sheet aluminum indicated at 6 inFig. 6, a somewhat stream line effect is given to the body or fuselagewhich as shown in said figure is provided with windows 7 and a door 8 ateach side so that ception the car may be entered and vacated from eitherside thereof. i I

In addition to the uprights and cross bars 1, 2 and 3 above referred to,longitudinal bars or stringers 9 may be employed at suitable intervalsas indicated in Fig. 1 and diagonal guy wires or stays 10 of solid wireor twisted cable may be employed to effectively brace the entirestructure and render the same strong and rigid while comparativelylight. in weight.

11 designates the bottom of the car which is raised slightly above thelevel of the bottom rails 5 so as to leave a space or compartment 12beneath the floor for thereof the main driving shaft and the partsclosely related thereto, to be hereinafter particularly described.

13 designates the main shaft of the propelling mechanism which extendsin a fore and aft direction beneath the floor 11, said shaft beingjournaled in suitable bearings beneath the floor and provided with aplurality of bevel gear wheels 14 thereon which mesh with other bevelgear wheels 15 on 1 the lower ends of vertical shafts 16. These shaftsextend upwardly through the center of the car and are provided at theirupper ends with lifting propellers 17 which sweep in a horizontal plane.18 designates another propeller arranged between the propellers 17 andat a slightly different elevation, the propeller 18 being mounted uponan individual vertical shaft 19 having fast thereon a bevel gear wheel20 which meshes with another bevel gear wheel 21 on a short horizontalshaft 22 driven by bevel gear wheels 23 and 24 from one of the shafts15. It may be stated here that the number of horizontal or liftingpropellers may be increased or diminished without departing from theprinciple of this invention.

The shaft 13 is ordinarily driven by means of a main service gas engine25 which is shown as connected to the shaft 13 by a sprocket chain 26which passes around a sprocket wheel 27 on the shaft of the engine andaround another sprocket wheel 28 on the shaft 13. At its forward end theshaft 13 is geared to an elevated shaft 29 which drives through bevelgears 30 a short transverse shaft 31 mounted in bearings and connectedby'bevel gearing to a forward propeller shaft 35 on the end of which isfastened a tractor screw or propeller 36.

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screw or propeller 36 may be varied so as to cause said propeller todirect the machine upwardly or downwardly as desired. At its rear endthe shaft 13 is connected by bevel gears 32 to an upright shaft 33 inturn connected by bevel gears 34 to the rear propeller shaft 58 forimparting rotary motion to the latter.

Mounted to turn on the shaft 42 is a second hand wheel 44 fast on asleeve 45 turning on the shaft 42, said sleeve carrying a bevel gearwheel 46 which meshes with a bevel gear wheel 47 on one end of a shortshaft 48 connected by bevel gears 49 and 50 to a shaft 51 extending tothe rear of the body or fuselage where it is connected by gear wheels 52and 53 to a short transverse shaft 54 which is geared toa sector 55 on.atilting frame 56 in which is journaled the rear propeller shaft 58carrying the pushing or driving screw or propeller 59, the rocking frame56 being arranged to turn on a vertical axis so that the propeller shaft58 maybe swung to one side or the other for steering the. machine to theright or left.

In order to admit of the up and down movement of the forward propellershaft 35, the stem section of the frame is formed as illustrated inFigs. 3 and 5, said stem embodying the two parallel side members 60spaced apart to guide way 61 which permits said shaft to be swungupwardly and downwardly for the purpose stated. In like manner the bodyor fuselage is provided at the rear with a horizontally extendingguideway for the propeller shaft 58 to enable said shaft to be swunglaterally to one side or the other for the purpose also stated above.

The opposite side walls of the body or fuselage are parallel to eachother for a portion of their length but gradually converge toward thefront as shown in the plan view Fig. 2, and they also have a slightconvergence toward the rear as shown in the same figure. While theopposite sides are fiat, the top wall or roof of the structure is archedas illustrated, for example, in Fig.

leave an interveningv 4, the said roof being arched or given a crown byspringing arches or bows 63 which are terminally connected to the toprails 4 and which are maintained as to their proper curvature bycentrally arranged struts 64 which extend between the centers of thebows 63 and the top cross bars 2 of the frames of the body. This top orroof will also be sheathed in with sheets of aluminum or like materialthe same as the sides 6 as illustrated in Fig. 6. i

In addition to the main service engine 25 I .provide an emergency orauxiliary engine 65 located adjacent to the rear of the machine andgeared to a shaft 66 which may be thrown into and out of engagement withthe main shaft 13 by means of a clutch 67. A clutch 68 may also be usedfor throwing the main service engine 25 into and out of engagement withthe shaft 13 so that either one of said engines may be used for drivingthe propellers of the machine in case the other engine should fail. Ifdesired, a single clutch lever 69 may be employed for simultaneouslythrowing out one of the clutches and throwing in the other clutch in theact of disconnecting one engine from the shaft and connecting up theother engine therewith.

What I claim is In air craft, a fully sheathed stream-line body thesides of which converge in curved lines toward the bow and merge into aU- shaped stem disposed in a vertical plane, the rear portions of thesides converging in curves of smaller radius to and producing asubstantially semi-circular rear. end, a

bottom comprislng a substantially flat rear portion and an upwar'dlycurving forward aerofoil surface progressively decreasing in widthtoward said stem, a top surface which is arched longitudinally andtransversely and made gradually decreasing in width as it approachessaid stem, a tractor propeller, a pushing propeller, and a series oflifting propellers operating about said top surface, one of said liftingpropellers overhanging the downwardly sloping forward portion of the topsurface, and another lifting propeller overhanging the downwardlysloping rear portion of the top surface, and all of said propellersoverhanging the downwardly curved lateral portions of said top surface.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT G. BARTON.

Witnesses:

C ARLES F. HANSON, J 01in A. NEWCOMER.

